The Card Apprentice

At Moon Frost Island, Jia Yingxia had her eyes closed as she listened to Bai Yue’s report. Bai Yue’s expression was frosty, and it remained that way even though she was in front of her esteemed teacher. The Ice Lady was a name that resounded throughout the federation, as she was the designated successor to Jia Yingxia. For those last few years, she had been required to attend all sorts of meetings in order to train her. Jia Yingxia had given her a lot of power. But she had no great expectations, and she conducted herself with determination and was well-received.

Her skin was like snow and her face like jade ice, and her icy eyes would stop a person mid-gaze. She was hard to get close to.

Jia Yingxia felt there was not much she could do about that. Bai Yue had grown up with her, and that was the only part of her that was completely opposite of herself.

“What happened in Zargan has had a huge influence on our reputation, and this summit we arranged has been under attack. Some small powers’ attitudes have become quite hesitant, and we must fight back powerfully. Constellation is behind all of it, judging from the results of our investigations, along with Faya and Desert Camp.”

Bai Yue’s expression didn’t change as she continued with her report. “Tang Hanpei has already dispatched a mission to participate in the summit, but they are now contacting some of the people on the Black-Line Star Listing in secret.”

“Ha ha.” Jia Yingxia opened her eyes and laughed lightly. “Tang Hanpei is quite a schemer to look so far ahead. If Song Chengyan hadn’t died, with one oddball and one upright person, it would be hard to find their equal anywhere. It is too bad such a top-notch figure as Song Chengyan always so easily incurs the jealousy of the heavens. Remember, Little Yue, in everything under heaven, the upright and the odd always follow one another. If it weren’t for the upright, though, the oddball would be nothing but a joke.”

Bai Yue looked as though she had something on her mind.

Jia Yingxia had a lot of confidence in her own beloved apprentice’s understanding and never had to provide much explanation. After some thought, she said, “Yushan did a pretty good job this time, and we’ll have to reward him well when he gets back.” Her face then turned abruptly cold. “Hmph. Does that trifling Constellation dare to call out Moon Frost Island?”

Moon Frost Island had been disgraced in Zargan. If it hadn’t been for Zeng Yushan finally getting a hold on things, the entire army could have been wiped out. Even then, with two killed and four others heavily wounded, even the Yans had been hit hard. All of that had taken place on a live broadcast.

Was Constellation crazy? No one had ever dared to provoke Moon Frost Island like that!

Moon Frost Island reacted quickly, and a pursuit team composed of 20 card artisans engaged in a frenzied chase to the death of Constellation. The one leading the team that time was impressively the eighth on the Heavenly Drum Rolls, the top person in the current generation at Moon Frost Island, Bai Yue!

Any powers related to Constellation encountered devastating attacks, and Constellation was nearly completely wiped out after it was chased down by Moon Frost Island. All that remained of the once-prominent Constellation were Wen and Yuchi Bai. Wen had been seriously wounded by Bai Yue. At the cost of an arm, Yuchi Bai had risked his life to rescue Wen, and they had then fled in a hurry.

Moon Frost Island’s counterattack didn’t stop there. They immediately announced the dissolution of the more than 20 small alliances in the Heavenly Drum Village District, which were all absorbed by Moon Frost Island. That was a big blow to Faya. Faya’s power had expanded as they had infiltrated the Heavenly Drum Village District. Without roots or a base, however, they were only a power in the dark in the end.

Even if those small powers had such a lethal weapon as battle shuttle cars, they would still never dare to face a direct confrontation with Moon Frost Island. In the end, although Moon Frost Island wasn’t the lord of the Heavenly Drum Village District, it was still the biggest power in that realm.

Unless Faya were to brazenly launch an attack against Moon Frost Island, no one would have a way to block the collapse of those small alliances. But Faya was just then in a confrontation with the Federation Comprehensive Academy. To advance into the Heavenly Drum Village District at that time would be to court death!

Not only that, but Faya had been taken out one by one by some hidden obstacles. The situation Faya had so painstakingly built up in the Heavenly Drum Village District had immediately been beaten back by more than half.

Then, the top ten from the Black-Line Star Listing were immediately invited to Moon Frost Island to participate in the summit. There had still been some restlessness and some worry about Moon Frost Island pulling out the giants from the underworld in the Heavenly Drum Village District, but that immediately calmed.

People with sharp eyes knew that if the summit was truly successful, no one could block the advance of Moon Frost Island. Those who were excluded when the time came would have been better off attending the summit. They still saw clearly that although Moon Frost Island was the sponsor and the most powerful participant of the summit, they still couldn’t get complete control over the new alliances. Their battles with Moon Frost Island would have to be advanced in another fashion.

The situation of Si Dongkou and the rest became immediately embarrassing. Those underworld kingpins who had been able to survive until then were no fools. If they were to become hired guns for Tang Hanpei at that time, the aftermath would be miserable for them.

With the prompting of Jia Yingxia, publicity about the summit, which would previously have taken place in silence, was now made with a lot of fanfare and a high profile. Moreover, whether they were underworld or above-board, only the rather stronger powers would have received the invitations sent by Moon Frost Island.

In the changing of hands, Jia Yingxia not only deftly resolved Moon Frost Island’s predicament, but she also took back the initiative.

Everyone’s gazes were drawn to the summit not long afterward.

* * *

The Dongrui District referred to the southwestern part of the Heavenly Drum Village District. It ranged over 19 local cities, and its center of commerce was the city of Dongrui.

Dongrui was bustling far beyond what any of them had imagined. Even Sang Hanshui was shocked by how bustling and developed it was, never mind a bumpkin like Chen Mu. Compared to Dongrui, Chilei or Zargan looked like they had fallen 20 years behind. For Dongrui to already be so bustling, Chen Mu couldn’t help but marvel. Even the capital, which was the center of the federation, hadn’t been so bustling.

The towering buildings clustered together were crammed into the city to the point of overcrowding, giving the phrase that an inch of land was worth an inch of gold its finest interpretation.

The most shocking thing was that there was a satellite city floating in midair ten kilometers off the ground!

The satellite city was 40 times smaller than Dongrui. Floating in midair as it was, though, it still made people deeply marvel at its grandeur. It was said that the amount of power cards it consumed each day were worth several hundreds of millions of Oudi, and that was only to keep it afloat. When the luxurious amenities were added on top of that, it would go through an incredibly terrifying number in a year. Fortunately, the ones who lived there were the upper crust of the Dongrui District. They shared the terrifying expense together with the largest companies and firms.

It was called the Garden Above the Center, and it was also one of Dongrui’s iconic structures.

The Garden Above the Center had strict identity verification, and those without permission couldn’t even approach within five kilometers. Floating around that satellite city were several small metallic fortresses, in which were stationed a large number of powerful card artisans. Whenever a person without permission would approach, they could proactively launch an attack in any situation where they didn’t heed advice.

Those small fortresses, which scraped the blue sky, numbered as many as several dozen, all of them positioned five kilometers from the satellite city like a necklace around it.

When Chen Mu finally recovered from his shock, he couldn’t help but gush, “It’s so beautiful! There are no wonders this world doesn’t have! It’s really a miracle!”

There was a sudden guffaw from the side, the tone revealing contempt. “Phooey! What a gang of bumpkins!”

The one talking was a little miss surrounded by a gang of card artisans, and she was looking at the four of them in disdain. She had golden hair on top of her jewel-like turquoise eyes and a white frock that could be seen to be top quality at first glance. She was really as exquisite as a porcelain doll, though she made people feel perfectly uncomfortable. The expressions on the guards’ faces also revealed some arrogance, with only a middle-aged man beside the little girl having a relaxed expression.

The four of them looked as though they had swallowed a fly, and their recently good feelings suddenly vanished. Having just entered Dongrui, Chen Mu didn’t want to provoke anything. He said in a low voice, “Don’t pay attention to them. Let’s go.”

“So, it’s a gang with no guts! Hmph! You think if you wear masks you’re Qiao Yuan? I really detest you guys who only know how to follow the trends!” The little girl spread her feet and pointed to the four, scolding them. She’d had a date that day with some handsome guy she’d had her heart on for a long time, and who would have thought he would never come? That made her feel terrible just as she saw Chen Mu and his party, and she took her irritation out on them.

The four of them stopped. Oddly enough, three among them cast their gazes onto someone else besides those others. Chen Mu really wanted to rub his nose, feeling strange. The trend of wearing a mask didn’t have that much to do with him, for sure. If someone else were wearing the mask, it would have nothing to do with him.

But Chen Mu found it funny to see the little girl speaking so confidently. They had pretty annoyed at first, but they were now amused by what the little girl said.

Shaking his head and smiling, he didn’t have to concern himself with a little girl who didn’t understand things. Chen Mu turned around and was about to leave.

“Hmph! Am I going to let you all leave?” The little girl saw that what she’d said didn’t have the desired result, which made her still more upset. She couldn’t help the cold hmph.

Hearing that, the guards came forward, laughing, to surrounded Chen Mu and his party threateningly.

“To wear masks in broad daylight is such a scam! Take their masks off! I’d like to get a good look at what these clodhoppers are really like!” the little girl said with incredible arrogance.

“Ha ha. Indeed! We will let our sister take a look.” The guards were laughing as they got ready to come forward to make their move.

Sang Hanshui was the first to lose his cool. He had taken a great loss at the hands of Wei-ah and Chen Mu, but no one was going to be so impudent in front of him.

He gave out a cold snort and said, “Who dares?” His perception then came gushing out as though the floodgates had opened!

Suddenly, there wasn’t the slightest sound around them. Looking again at that gang of guards, he saw that their faces had turned white and that their legs were trembling. The guard who had been about to pull the mask off Sang Hanshui’s face fainted straight away. The entire street had fallen suddenly into silence.

Although Sang Hanshui was listed in the Black-Line Star Listing beyond the rank of a 100, if it weren’t for not having a good card, he would have long since killed his way into the top 100. Since he had persisted in bitter training for many years, his perception had gotten quite terrifying. When he emitted it with no scruples, the entire street was enshrouded by his perception.

The little girl, who had just been so arrogant, lost all her color and was trembling in terror as she looked at Sang Hanshui.

Sang Hangshui wore a green mask, on which was painted the face of an ancient general with ferocious features and scathing murderousness. When they had just looked at them before, they hadn’t gotten any feeling that they would be scared out of their wits like that!

The guards’ teeth were chattering desperately. The look on the middle-aged man beside the little girl changed dramatically as he stepped forward, putting the little girl behind him. He looked at Sang Hanshui nervously.